The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is all but endorsing the GOP establishment favorites running for open Senate seats next year in West Virginia and South Dakota.

In an interview Sunday on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said he had “great confidence and faith” in Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.) and former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, the Republican front-runners to capture seats held by a pair of retiring Democrats.

“She seems to be clearly on her way to being nominated as the Republican candidate in West Virginia,” the campaign committee chairman said of Capito, calling her “a great House member.” Moran was nearly as effusive in praising Rounds, describing the former two-term governor as an “outstanding candidate.”

Capito and Rounds have drawn criticism from conservatives, including the Club for Growth, for their fiscal records but have not yet been met with daunting primary challengers. Moran’s comments suggest Senate Republicans would prefer to keep it that way.

But even as the Kansan more than hinted at his preference for the establishment duo, he sought to pull off a difficult balancing act on the broader question about the campaign committee’s general posture on directly intervening in contested primaries. It’s the central topic looming over the Senate GOP, following consecutive election cycles in which they appeared to lose winnable seats because the party nominated deeply flawed candidates. Senate Republicans must win at least six seats next year to take the majority.

In addition to his warm words for Capito and Rounds, Moran said the NRSC was committed to backing Senate Republican incumbents, such as Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, who may face primaries from the right. But he also tried to assure local officials that Washington Republicans wouldn’t seek to openly dictate Senate nominees.

The NRSC chairman suggested there was a third way — encouraging state leaders to be the ones backing the candidates national GOP officials believe have the best chance to win a general election.

“We’re going to be emphatic in our efforts to encourage individual leaders within the state to coalesce around a great candidate,” said Moran, noting that it’s important that there “be buy-in” from state officials.

He suggested that if national Republicans are the ones publicly pushing for certain candidates it could backfire with the grass roots.

“We’re going to be involved, but it would make no sense for us to publicly say this is the person we want you to nominate because there has to be support for that candidate from somebody in the state,” Moran explained.

While attempting to assuage concerns of local activists, Moran also sent a message to the NRSC’s donors and would-be donors, assuring them the committee would not waste their money and is taking steps to pre-empt another Todd Akin-style candidacy.

“We certainly are not hands off,” he said.

Candidates must agree to be mentored by a current GOP senator if they want NRSC money, Moran said, adding that the committee was also setting up boot camps for both the candidates and their staffs.

Moran avoided criticizing conservative groups like the Club for Growth, saying that both establishment-oriented entities like the NRSC and the conservative outfits were both getting an earful from their donors about finding viable Senate candidates.

The message from contributors, according to Moran: “If you want a check from me to support the cause of a Republican Senate, give me candidates that can be elected to the Senate in November.”

He was, however, guarded on how the committee would spend its donors’ money on the most immediate Senate campaign — the June 25 Massachusetts special election.

Declaring the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry “winnable,” Moran claimed NRSC polling had it as a single-digit race. But he declined to make any major commitments to Republican Gabriel Gomez, leaning on the explanation that he didn’t want to reveal the committee’s plans to the opposition.